Mental Illness update here and abroad — Bexar County gets kudos

Bexar County got a pat on the back in an otherwise generally negative report on the state’s mental health services, released last week by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

NAMI released a state-by-state report card, and the class is not doing well.

But the report called Bexar County’s mental health court an innovation.

Texas went from a “C” in 2006 to a “D” this year, based on an evaluation of financing, treatment, health promotion, access to information and community integration. The nation’s overall grade remained a “D.”

Fragmented, underfunded and only sporadically improving, according to NAMI, the nation’s mental health care system is particularly threatened now that state and federal budgets must shrink.

Looking for a bright side, the report stated: “Fourteen states increased their overall score over the past three years; one more state earned a B; and two fewer states failed outright.”

High rates of foster kids who age out of the system when they turn 18 end up homeless — but this Newsweek article describes a law passed in the last days of the Bush administration that would extend some benefits until they reach 21.

Being an adult, even when one struggles with mental illness, seems to mean having more tools to deal with life’s unpleasant aspects.

In Australia, some patients who struggle with mental illness are starting to plan for when they lose control — by compiling advance directives in case they are hospitalized, with instructions on medication and contact information for their psychiatrists so that hospital doctors can get more information on their specific cases. How enforceable those directives are still seems to need some work.